Gospel Reflection - Luke 18:1-8

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus tells his followers a parable about a widow who refuses to give up. She keeps asking a judge, again and again, to help her receive justice. Even though the judge doesn’t care much about right or wrong, he eventually gives in because of her persistence.

Through this story, Jesus reminds us to never lose heart in prayer. Like the widow, we are called to trust that God listens to us — even when it feels like our prayers are unanswered or when life seems unfair. Persistence in prayer isn’t about changing God’s mind; it’s about deepening our faith and keeping our hearts open to God’s presence in every moment.

As parents, we can model this persistence for our children. If they see us praying regularly, showing kindness, and trusting in God even when things are difficult, they learn that faith is not about quick answers, but about steady hope.

May we be inspired by the widow’s courage and Jesus’ reminder: “Pray always and do not lose heart.”

Vinnies Hygiene Station

In the holidays I dropped off over 30 hygiene packs to St Vincent de Paul for distribution to those in need. The staff at Vinnies were overwhelmed by our generosity, particularly for such a small school community. Our youth ministry team has the aim of collecting more donations this term so we can create more hygiene packs to donate along with the donations for our upcoming Christmas Appeal at the end of the term. So please, keep the donations for our hygiene station coming in. We have plenty of toothbrushes and toothpaste, but we are especially in need of the following items:

• Toiletry bags
• Soap and body wash
• Deodorant

If you’re wondering how you can contribute, here are a few simple ideas:

• Planning a holiday? If you visit a hotel and don’t need the complimentary toiletries, consider bringing them home to donate to our hygiene station. Please ensure they are sealed.
• Shopping for yourself? Next time you’re buying a new toothbrush or bottle of shampoo, why not pick up an extra one to help someone in need?

School Masses and Prayer Celebrations

As a school, we regularly attend Mass at St John Vianney’s Church. The choir sings at Mass and sometimes our students have a role in other parts of the celebration. Parents and friends of our school are welcome to join us alongside parishioners at any of these Masses. We also have a number of Prayer Celebrations this term which we also love to see parents and friends attend if you are able. These will take place in the school hall. 

Dates for Masses and Prayer Celebrations for this term are:

Week 2 Thursday 23rd October: Grandfriends Day Prayer Celebration - 9:30am, School hall (led by Kindergarten)

Week 5 Tuesday 11th November: Remembrance Day Prayer Celebration - 10:45am, School Hall (led by Year 3)

Week 5 Wednesday 12th November: Parish Communion Service/Liturgy of the Word - 9:30am, SJV Church, (led by Year 2)

Week 7 Wednesday 26th November: Parish Mass - 9:30am - SJV Church (led by Year 3)

Week 9 Friday 12th December: Thanksgiving Prayer Celebration - 2:40pm, School hall

Week 10 Wednesday 17th December: Year 6 Graduation Mass - 9:30am, SJV Church (led by Year 6)

Christian Meditation

Today we welcomed Mrs Helen Bramanathan from the Catholic Identity team at Catholic Education. Helen has been working with our staff on implementing a consistent practice of Christian Meditation across the school, and today she visited each class to work with the students and their teachers on improving their practice. The key components of Christian meditation are stillness, silence and simplicity. Christian Meditation is regularly practiced by all classes at SJV, and is a way we encourage students to pray and spend time with God in a way that is meaningful to them. Our students were all highly engaged during Helen’s sessions today, with one student commenting, “I feel like Jesus just put a blanket around me.” We thank Helen for her time today and for sharing her skills and expertise in this area with our community.

SJV Parents and Friends Prayer Group

Our parents and friends prayer group will recommence from tomorrow morning. The group will meet on Fridays at 8:50am in Naraganawali (our Indigenous community garden) and will finish in time for our Friday morning awards assembly at 9am. In the event of wet weather, we will gather in the meeting room instead. The focus of our group will be to pray for our children. In amongst the turmoil and despair in our world, it is easy to lose hope and become discouraged about what our children and our children’s children will inherit. Our group’s aim will be to put some positive and hopeful prayers to God not only for our own children but for all the children of SJV, of our Parish community, our country and our world. 

All parents and friends of SJV are welcome to join, regardless of faith background, whether you are a practising Catholic or it’s been a while since you’ve prayed, we’d love to see you. You will be invited to share any intentions with the group that you may have for your own children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or any children special to you. You are welcome to bring any non-school aged children along to the group. No one will be asked to share or verbally participate unless they feel comfortable to do so. I’d encourage you to consider whether this might be something you give a try this term. There is no obligation to attend each week, just whenever you can. Please feel free to contact me: laura.matchett@cg.catholic.edu.au with any questions. I hope to see you there.

Sacramental Program Feedback

Father Loi and the Parish team are busily making preparations for next year’s Sacramental program. If you have any feedback or suggestions, please reach out to Father Loi directly or contact the Parish office: westoncreek@cg.org.au as soon as possible.

Annunciate Kids

Annunciate Kids is our Parish Youth group led by Youth Minister Georgia Riley. The group meets in the Church Meeting room at St Jude’s and is open to students in Year 2-6. Sessions run fortnightly on Sunday afternoons between 3:45pm - 4:45pm. The next meeting will be on Sunday 19th October. The theme for term 4 is ‘Powerful Parables.’ Registrations can be made at the following link: https:/tinyurllcomm/y6umv8f8 Any enquiries are best directed to Georgia via email: Youth.Westoncreek@cg.org.au